Welcome to the 6th Reader Blog Critique. Thanks to everyone who participated in Last weeks critique of Balkhis.
This weeks critque is of Rarst, a technology blog which covers software and other tech topics.
I spoke to the the owner, Andrey Savchenko, about what he thinks he needs to address on the blog. Here’s what he had to say :
- Which parts of blog have I got right? What should be preserved and reinforced?
- What have I got wrong? – layout, design, navigation, etc.
- What do you think of the sidebar, footer and static pages? Are they clear and do they fulfill their purpose?
- What do you think about the blogs content?
In addition I welcome commenters to talk about the blogs content and design and any suggestions you have for promoting the blog.
The most helpful and constructive commenter will get $10. Alternatively, if you prefer, I can register a domain for you at eNom and push it to your account 
Andrey will decide who the best commenter was.
As usual, I remind everyone that positive or negative, all feedback should be constructive.
If you have any questions about any of this please let me know in this thread
Blog to be Reviewed : Rarst
Not a big fan of the logo, I don't like the www. in it. Menu is a little plain. RSS Feed Subscribe button is too small, no clear way to subscribe by email (on home page, I see it after the posts). No idea what that frog icon is …
I know you are going for the simple and plain look, but just a little too plain for me.
@Kevin
Thanks again for awesome project overall and this opportunity for me personally
I think there were some complains about lack of feedback on feedback from blog owners so I'll try to answer all comments as they come.
@Desk Coder
>Not a big fan of the logo, I don’t like the http://www. in it.
It's kinda placeholder – photoshop image bundled with theme, I only edited my text in. I will get custom logo when my budget and my desires finish their cold war.
>Menu is a little plain.
Noted. I'll try to tweak fonts to make it more obvious.
>RSS Feed Subscribe button is too small
Noted. Not so small but too light on colors probably. It's recent change. I'll replace it with more prominent one.
>no clear way to subscribe by email (on home page, I see it after the posts)
Had it in sidebar, wasn't really working. I have email subscription on updates page as well. Don't know how to handle it in sidebar. email icon will be often mistaked for "email me" kind of icon. Subscription form – for search form unless I make it very prominent which I don't really want to.
>No idea what that frog icon is…
Skribit. Nice but not very known service for bloggers. I am waiting for update of their widget, it's too heavy for sidebar (have it on about and social pages) so using some icons and links.
>I know you are going for the simple and plain look, but just a little too plain for me.
Yep, going for minimalistic looks. There is also second purpose – when there is not much stuff on page it's very easy to track effect tweaks have. So if I change something and see page views going up – that was good change and so on.
If it was my blog, I would put the rss button and rss email subscriber form at the place where recent posts are now shown as its the best spot to place it. And at present the sidebar seems pretty empty, you might want to put in a recommended posts, popular posts and more….it will increase your page views and keep the uses on the site.
And you might want to try link units for ads. on top.
@TheAnand
>I would put the rss button and rss email subscriber form at the place where recent posts are now shown as its the best spot to place it
I know that I got most of my subscribers from links under posts – they work very well. When I only had links in sidebar getting subscribers was very slow.
I have a post on it with my experience and reasoning
http://www.rarst.net/web/rss-icon-placement/
So sidebar subscription links are low priority for me.
>sidebar seems pretty empty, you might want to put in a recommended posts, popular posts and more
I put up links to featured posts (above recent ones) from time to time. I am going to automate it but hadn't selected good plugin for that yet.
Noted about sidebar feeling empty. I'll think about what to add. I am also going to redo software updates part so it is going to be bigger and with links to post as well.
>And you might want to try link units for ads. on top.
You mean those from adsense? I know about them, but advertisement is low priority at moment. I mostly work on content and theme tweaking.
Nice critique.
what needs to be done so that you also review my blog ?
The theme is clean and minimalistic.
1) That green frog Skribit icon should be changed into full Skribit widget in sidebar.
2) Archives page missing.
3) Categories section is missing.
4) Navigation links in header should be more brighter and highlighted.
5) Email subscription box should be on every page.
6) The search box on top right is almost invisible.
7) Peel off EntreCard widget, occupying the premium space. Kevin knows better than me, about EntreCard performance and benefits.
Adsense text ads on home page doesn't give professional look and feel. Leave them for individual post pages.
9) Create a Logo for header.
10) Increase the post excerpts count to 10 on home page, and populate the sidebar with some more stuff. The more excerpts on home page, the more it will help in reducing the bounce rate.
10 points of $1 each
@Rajeev Edmonds
1. Skribit widget is 300Kb. Too heavy, waiting for new version.
2. Huh? http://www.rarst.net/sitemap/
3. I am always including tag that is same as category. So if I display both categories and tag cloud – it's doubled. Top of tag cloud is equal to my categories.
4. Noted again. Really have to work on those.
5. Noted again. I may be convinced to work on that.
6. Hmm.. Blends too well probably. Noted.
7. Entrecard stays for now. It's not perfect but it works – better than nothing.
8. Really?.. Seems like Internet is totally missing that piece of wisdom.
I'll consider it.
9. Noted again.
10. I think 5 is comfortable for quick overview… Maybe I should try 6-8.
I know sidebar is short at moment (I tweak it all the time). More interested in what should I put there than fact that it has space to use.
Anyone looking at static pages? Not sure I got them right.
I don't like the play button icon in list menu. Yours video blog? Just my two cents.
@Myo Kyaw Htun
Hm, never saw it as play symbol. Noted, I'll look for something to replace it with.
For populating sidebars:
1) Popular Posts section.
2) Social Media Profile links.
3) Make 'Tag Cloud' with width same as recent posts is having. It will give a better evenly spread cloud tag. Enhance it more by customizing the CSS. At present it seems a bit dull.
4) Consider creating a 125×125 Ad section. Make sure to create a dedicated advertise page in navigation menu, if you create ad section in sidebar.
5) Recent comments section can also be added.
6) If subscriber count is in at least 3 figures, consider displaying the feed count chicklet in sidebar.
For Static Post Pages:
1) Consider using the smilies plugin for commenting system, like Kevin has for his blog. It makes the conversation more real and interactive.
2) Consider creating a bookmarking section at the end of post body.
Miscellaneous:
1) Consider changing the name of top navigation link from 'Sitemap' to 'Archives'. An average reader confuses it with XML file link.
2) Consider creating a 3 column footer like problogger has. Can place some interesting stuff in it. Will also make theme's overall look more attractive.
@Rajeev Edmonds
1. Noted again. As I said above I put some manually sometimes. Will search for fitting plugin.
2. Have separate static page for those… I'll link to it in sidebar… Or get main one there and link to page for the rest.
3. Noted. Will work on its looks.
4. I have one, its disabled at moment. Nothing I really have/want to show there.
5. Value of recent comments is questionable. I know it's pretty common but I tend to agree with people that consider it sidebar junk.
6. I wanted to show it when its over 200… Will try to put it up and see effect.
1. Not huge fan of smileys. It's good when you can have set designed exactly to fit but generic ones usually break text looks.
2. I have AddThis link on top of post. Will consider moving it to bottom (and making more obvious).
1. Noted. Not that I think that average user has a clue about XML sitemap but archives may indeed work better.
2. Two more spot to fill (assuming nav takes one). I'll get to it after I finalize my sidebar.
Rarst won last weeks best comment for the reader blog critique and he has kindly added it to this critique. So there is now 2 $10 prizes up for grabs. The top 2 best comments will win the prize
The theme looks pretty good, though the skyscraper ad and Entrecard look like sore thumbs. I would instead recommend keeping an AdSense unit only to search visitors (use WSA plugin) – that way, regular/referral readers won't be bothered, and it will probably help in converting to regular readers more.
The subscription area is not prominent enough – maybe add it as a separate box with a background/mascot (mascots can be bought for very low prices from stock art sites).
Add a popular posts list so that we can start browsing without searching around much.
You seem to get quite a few comments – why not add author highlighting? Right now, I have to text-search your name to get to your comments.
For the sake of SEO, I would recommend removing tags, tag clouds and category links – they only increase page bloat and reduce link equity (hint, hint, Kevin!).
The Skribit page doesn't have any suggestions – the link after post doesn't exactly seem ideal.
Bookmark links work better immediately after the post, so that the reader would have already decided whether the content is bookmark-worthy.
The footer is almost non-existant – perhaps add an about-section and a short blurb about you (with link to your about page) and social media profile links (fans on Digg/SU is always good
) – I did it with the latest redesign of my blog (click my link).
The theme is all black – throw in some colors there (though it is easier to mess up, so do lots of testing, including showing your design around to good friends for suggestions).
I really liked the "software updates" section – something I have not seen often. The content is good – I've already subscribed
Perhaps, you need to write more on 'hot' topics and resources – regular content doesn't always get you enough new readers regularly. It depends on your own style, of course. I would write a couple of resource posts every month – so that it doesn't dominate your posts.
Oh, and Kevin – add me to the list of blogs to be critiqued
[and sorry for the double comment, wish you had the comment-editing plugin here at BT]
@Sumesh
>The theme looks pretty good, though the skyscraper ad and Entrecard look like sore thumbs.
Entrecard is traffic. AdSense is covering hole.
I'll think about it.
>The subscription area is not prominent enough
Noted again. I will get logo soon and think about do I need mascot as well.
>Add a popular posts list
Noted again. Seems like most really expect to see it.
>You seem to get quite a few comments – why not add author highlighting?
Good one, will do that.
>For the sake of SEO, I would recommend removing tags, tag clouds and category links
They are filtered in robots.txt
>The Skribit page doesn’t have any suggestions – the link after post doesn’t exactly seem ideal.
I know, I know… Need new widget and will lose links when it is out.
>Bookmark links work better immediately after the post
Noted again, will move it.
>The footer is almost non-existant
Noted again, seems like expectations of footer are increasing.
>The theme is all black – throw in some colors there
I like monochromatic looks, makes easier to test stuff and draw attention to needed parts as well. Overall it's first theme and polygon for tweaks. I will probably form list of stuff I need and buy or order theme I exactly need in the future.
>I really liked the “software updates” section
Yeah, it's self-published so I have total control over it. Need to redo is so it shows link to my posts together with download links.
>The content is good – I’ve already subscribed
Thanks.
>Perhaps, you need to write more on ‘hot’ topics and resources
I am figuring my own style so far. I have software/services review posts, quick overviews of blogs/sites and long post with my thoughts. Rest is filler and experiments. I post daily so I have plenty of space to play in. It will get more consisten and balanced overtime (I hope).
Last day of reviewing for me!
I am deciding and sending Kevin winners this evening (in 6 hours) so if someone is still thinking about taking part – hurry up.